All on Fire: William Lloyd Garrison and the Abolition of Slavery - Softcover

Mayer, Henry

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0393332365 ISBN 13: 9780393332360

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2008

Synopsis

"Superb....[A] richly researched, passionately written book."--William E. Cain, Boston Globe

Widely acknowledged as the definitive history of the era, Henry Mayer's National Book Award finalist biography of William Lloyd Garrison brings to life one of the most significant American abolitionists. Extensively researched and exquisitely nuanced, the political and social climate of Garrison's times and his achievements appear here in all their prophetic brilliance. Finalist for the National Book Award, winner of the J. Anthony Lucas Book Prize, winner of the Commonwealth Club Silver Prize for Nonfiction.

About this title

Review

Born in poverty, and self-educated while working in a print shop, William Lloyd Garrison was one of the United States' greatest crusading editors, putting out a weekly anti-slavery newspaper, The Liberator, for 35 years, beginning in 1831. A product of the rough and tumble political journalism of the day, Garrison wrote with extreme passion and from an uncompromising point of view. Yet the man who emerges from the pages of All on Fire is a deeply thoughtful person who, despite barely escaping lynch mobs himself, had a great sense of humor and a very polite demeanor. Historians have tended to minimize Garrison's impact on America, and some consider him a fringe character. But Henry Meyer, in this hefty biography, places Garrison at the center of his century, noting that Garrison's thought and tactics influenced not only the country's changing view of slavery, but also inspired the incipient feminist movement. The Lincoln administration noted Garrison's influence by inviting him to help raise the flag over the recaptured Fort Sumter. All on Fire goes into great detail on Garrison's life and work, providing the close and copious examination this activist's life fully deserves. --Robert McNamara

From the Publisher

Praise for All on Fire by Henry Mayer:

"A magnificant portrait of Garrison, filled with fresh insights into the man and his movement and written with unsurpassed narrative elegance. It is the best biography of the great abolitionist crusader I have ever read." --Stephen B. Oates, author of The Approaching Fury: Voices of the Storm, 1820-1861

"This eloquent, powerful biography by Henry Mayer should restore [Garrison] to the position he held in the country before the Civil War--a thundering voice challenging the conscience of white America. It is a book that may well encourage and inspire the coming generations to do for our time what Garrison did for his." --Howard Zinn, author of A People's History of the United States

"William Lloyd Garrison...stirred the conscience of millions and--more than anyone--helped move the issue of slavery to the top of the political agenda. Without him, Lincoln might not have had his chance for greatness. This comprehensive work, for the first time, does him justice--beautifully." --Mario M. Cuomo, author of Lincoln on Democracy

"This is a masterpiece. Brilliantly written and intelligently constructed, Mayer's elegant presentation rightly places William Lloyd Garrison at the forefront of America's greatest heroes." --Annette Gordon-Reed, author of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemmings

"The narrative pace of the story and the fine writing style provide us with an excellent portrait not only of Garrison, but of all of the other people whom he affected." --John A. Garraty, author of The American Nation

"As history, as narrative, as moral testament, as witness in a grand, old-fashioned sense that Garrison himself would surely love, it's a spectacular achievement." --Jonathan Kozol, author of Amazing Grace

Edition details

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0393332365
• ISBN 13: 9780393332360
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 769